Covering The Bases: Sunday, May 12th
Long-time grinder, STLCardinals84, is here to cover the bases for the upcoming MLB DFS slate. Whether you are looking for the top pitchers or the best stacks, Cards has you covered with an extensive deep dive into his favorite MLB DFS picks.
Happy Sunday, Grinders! We have another fun Sunday slate on tap, with ten games on the FanDuel main slate today and nine games on the DraftKings main slate. As the sites generally do when the Rockies are playing at home, FD is including the Sunday game at Coors Field while DK is not. That might make your rosters look slightly different if you are building DFS lineups on both sites today.
We don’t have a ton of weather to worry about today, but Kevin Roth does have a “yellow” rating for both the ARI/BAL and TEX/COL games as of his first report. I am going to write this article as though all the games will play without issue, but make sure to keep an eye on that before finalizing your rosters.
Let’s dig in and see what this Sunday docket has to offer for DFS!
Sunday Pitching: MLB DFS Picks on FanDuel & DraftKings
There are a lot of viable arms today, but there aren’t a lot of aces. In fact, we have one clear-cut SP1 and then a mess of middle tier arms beyond that.
TOP TIER PITCHING – THE WHEEL STANDS ALONE
Zack Wheeler vs. Marlins
Zack Wheeler has a 1.64 ERA this season.
Zack Wheeler has a 0.89 WHIP this season.
Zack Wheeler has a league average walk rate and a 32% strikeout rate this season.
Zack Wheeler has a 2.60 xFIP this season.
Zack Wheeler is by far the best pitcher on this slate.
Zack Wheeler is facing a Marlins team that is effectively a full Triple-A lineup at this point.
Do. Not. Overthink. This. There is really no conversation to be had in cash games, and Wheeler is your SP1 in those formats. Really the only discussion to be had is around ownership in GPP builds, but Wheeler is so safe that he is unlikely to be the reason a GPP is LOST today, and you might not be able to win without him if he dominates. I am debating using the lock button here, though there are certainly other pivots that we can consider in tournaments. In any case, Wheeler projects as the clear-cut ace on this slate.
SECONDARY TIER PITCHING
Zac Gallen vs. Orioles
Justin Verlander vs. Tigers
Luis Gil vs. Rays
Dean Kremer vs. Diamondbacks
Jack Flaherty vs. Astros
Bailey Ober vs. Blue Jays
MacKenzie Gore vs. Red Sox
Logan Allen vs. White Sox
Bryse Wilson vs. Cardinals
These pitchers certainly aren’t BAD options, but they just don’t match up to Wheeler either thanks to matchup (in the case of Zac Gallen) or talent (in the case of the others at this stage of their careers). In any case, there might be some viable pivots in this range. As usual, we can start with a peek at the 2024 data:
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